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After arriving on the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2012, Chris Hadfield took the reins of command on March 13, 2013 -- becoming the first and only Canadian to command humanity's most distant outpost. During the mission, Hadfield flew nearly 100 million kilometres during a five-month stay in space.

Here are 11 things you might not know about him:

1. Hadfield has flown into space three times: On the Space Shuttle Atlantis in November 1995, on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in April 2001, and to the International Space Station from December 2012 - May 2013.

2. Hadfield was the first and only Canadian to board the Russian space station Mir while in orbit, which he did during the STS-74 mission in November 1995. On this mission, Chris was also the first Canadian to operate the Space Shuttle's Canadarm while in space.

3. During Hadfield's first spacewalk -- the first spacewalk for any Canadian -- on mission STS-100 in April 2001, he was temporarily blinded when his spacesuit's anti-fog solution got into his eyes. He recovered after about 30 minutes and successfully completed his mission, which was to install the new Canadarm2 on the ISS. Over two spacewalks he spent nearly 15 hours "outside".

4. During Hadfield's time on the ISS, he gained about 950,000 followers on Twitter.

5. Hadfield filmed the first music video ever made in space: his version of David Bowie's 1969 hit Space Oddity. Before recording though, Chris asked his son Evan to re-write the lyrics to exclude the lines about the astronaut dying. The video debuted on YouTube on the eve of Hadfield's return to Earth (May 13, 2013) and today has more than 22 million views. On his own Facebook page, David Bowie posted, "It's possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created."

6. Hadfield has spent a total of 166 days in space, including 14 hours 53 minutes and 38 seconds of time "outside" on his two spacewalks in April 2001.

7. Hadfield unveiled Canada's new $5 note from space on April 30, 2013 while he was aboard the ISS. The new bill features two Canadian-built robots: Canadarm2 and the satellite-fixing DEXTRE. The note also features an image of Hadfield from his 2001 spacewalk.

8. Hadfield was the first, and to this date only, Canadian ever to be commander of the International Space Station. He took command on March 13, 2013, and held it until his return to Earth on May 13, 2013.

With the lockout finally ending and a 50-game NHL season about to begin, I am ready to cheer from orbit. Go Leafs! pic.twitter.com/xHX55431

9. The now infamous Toronto Maple Leafs collapse in Game 7 versus the Boston Bruins in the 2013 NHL playoffs took place while Hadfield was re-entering the atmosphere on his return to Earth. Hadfield -- a die-hard Leafs fan -- had even substituted his NASA-regulation undershirt for a Maple Leafs T-shirt for his fiery return to Earth. The first phone call he made after landing was to his wife, who had to break the news about the Leafs loss via satellite phone.

10. Hadfield, while ISS Commander, surprised his crewmates with an Easter Egg hunt for the holiday in 2013.

11. Hadfield was the fourth Canadian to fly in space when he first flew in 1995 (Marc Garneau: 1984, Roberta Bondar: 1992, Steve MacLean: 1992). He is one of two Canadians to visit space three times (Garneau: 1984, 1996, 2000), and one of nine Canadians to venture to the final frontier at least once (trained astronauts: Garneau, Bondar, MacLean, Robert Thirsk, Bjarni Tryggvason, Dave Williams, Julie Payette, Hadfield; Cirque founder Guy Laliberte bought a ticket to the ISS in 2009).